The US has more oil than.... guess this... the world.

[Mr. Scott]

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

So apparently the US is sitting on oil reserves, 8 times larger than Saudi Arabia's, 22 times as much as Iran, and 18 times as much as Iraq.

This is more oil than all of the world's confirmed oil reserves.

At our current rate of consumption this amount of oil (2 trillion barrels) could fuel the entire US economy for over 2000 years.

So why isn't the US tapping into these super massive oil reserves?

Well, there's cost efficiency, and then there's another big factor. US law.

Ridiculous or no?

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/...news2.13s.html

Also, apparently the tech or estimate has improved and 11 billion barrels can be extracted given the current tech.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...l/7380721.html

[mrmouth]

"Technically Recoverable Oil"

Anything else on the US today?

[teru bain vincint]

I've heard from an insider that the U.S. Government has 2 billion barrels of oil stored somewhere that is emergency "wartime" oil. Yeah we've got oil, but it's the American way to want and have more. Greed is good in this country man

[Dileos]

I've heard from an insider that the U.S. Government has 2 billion barrels of oil stored somewhere that is emergency "wartime" oil. Yeah we've got oil, but it's the American way to want and have more. Greed is good in this country man

Or because...well...it actually IS emergency oil.

[teru bain vincint]

Or because...well...it actually IS emergency oil.

Oh yeah!

[Nevins]

Oh yeah!

Its our emergency "Oh " supply if there was ever a truly global catastrophe.

[Lord Rahl]

I've heard from an insider that the U.S. Government has 2 billion barrels of oil stored somewhere that is emergency "wartime" oil. Yeah we've got oil, but it's the American way to want and have more. Greed is good in this country man

What's your point? Is there something bad about wanting to get more oil domestically?

[Chukada1]

Good. U.S can fund its continental wars well into the 28th century.

[xcorps]

Good. U.S can fund its continental wars well into the 28th century.

Or at the very least provide something for the rest of the world to provide senseless commentary on.

why isn't the US tapping into these super massive oil reserves?

Envirofascists. Every single tree, blade of grass, minnow, or earthworm is worthy of millions of dollars in legal fees.

[Claudius Gothicus]

I've heard from an insider that the U.S. Government has 2 billion barrels of oil stored somewhere that is emergency "wartime" oil. Yeah we've got oil, but it's the American way to want and have more. Greed is good in this country man

It's not about greed, it's about being strategically able to sustain yourself. In case of an all out war that prevents the USA from getting enough oil to power their industry and wartime needs the oil reserves will be used.

[MathiasOfAthens]

Afghanistan has no oil, and the Largest producer of oil is Russia, with the USA coming in third. Way to show your ignorance on yet another topic. Please educate yourself.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat.../2173rank.html
Why are you still on these forums?

I think there is a potential Oil pipeline tba in the north... though thats not the reason we went into Afghanistan. The reason was to punish AQ and the Taleban. Thats obvious.

I've heard from an insider that the U.S. Government has 2 billion barrels of oil stored somewhere that is emergency "wartime" oil. Yeah we've got oil, but it's the American way to want and have more. Greed is good in this country man

And in case of a total war that supply would only last a few months.


The reason we havnt taped out own supply prob has to do with exhausting the worlds supply first and keeping the prices high... I am sure though Oil tycoons want to get their hands on the oil here though but that wouldnt necessarily mean prices go down. I mean if you flood an economy with money does the price of commodities go down??

The sooner we switch from oil to something else the better. I hate that Americans are addicted to cars and need them to go everywhere... while the price of oil rises currently governments are cutting funding to public transit... which in turn discourages economic growth by making it harder for people to get around and for stores to survive.

[Border Patrol]

Say goodbye to being poor, Sioux.

[Pyrich]

Shhhhhh. Jimmy Carter created the Department of Energy because quite simply, why eat the cookies in your own jar when others are more than willing to sell you theirs. Then later on you can have all the cookies.

[GreyFox]

Where do those figures come from?

That article is almost 3 years old.

Wiki says the Saudis have 267 billion barrels, Venezuela has 297 billion barrels, and the US has 134 billion barrels.

I think you've mistaken the meaning of the words 'billion' and 'trillion'. A billion is a thousand million. A trillion is a thousand billion.

[Mr. Scott]

Where do those figures come from?

That article is almost 3 years old.

Wiki says the Saudis have 267 billion barrels, Venezuela has 297 billion barrels, and the US has 134 billion barrels.

I think you've mistaken the meaning of the words 'billion' and 'trillion'. A billion is a thousand million. A trillion is a thousand billion.

No I didn't. The Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and Montana contain 500 billion barrels of oil. That's only one of the oil reserves in the US and it alone has more oil than Saudi Arabia.

The thing is that much of it is still unrecoverable due to the technologoical barrier. That's where the number in the article comes from.

so how hard is it to get this oil?

<picturing deepwater horizon last yr>

Its a bit of a challenge. I mean, only a little more than 1 % is recoverable using current tech.

But I'm sure that if the oil companies were let loose on these super reserves that they would develop the tech necessary to extract them within a few years or a decade or two.

S
Because it only exists in your imagination. No word of all this^ in your article either. 3.4 billion barrels of theoretically recoverable oil and 20 times more than expected, isn't exactly 20 times the world reserves. Not even close. Where is the other oil OP? Alaska?

Here my good sir.
http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/...news2.13s.html

Also, apparently the tech or estimate has improved and 11 billion barrels can be extracted given the current tech.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...l/7380721.html

[Pious Agnost]

No I didn't. The Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and Montana contain 500 billion barrels of oil. That's only one of the oil reserves in the US and it alone has more oil than Saudi Arabia.

The thing is that much of it is still unrecoverable due to the technologoical barrier. That's where the number in the article comes from.

I've heard that figure a lot, but that was the highest estimate from a now dead geologist, whose study was never subject to a peer review.

It's a very suspect number and was never confirmed.

Unless you have a source?

[Mr. Scott]

I've heard that figure a lot, but that was the highest estimate from a now dead geologist, whose study was never subject to a peer review.

It's a very suspect number and was never confirmed.

Unless you have a source?

Yeah, look above.

500 is the upper estimate.
It tends to range from 200-500 billion barrels in the Bakkan basin.

There was another oil discovery in the rocky mountains that's supposed to contain the most oil in the world (over a trillion barrels), but the numbers for it are very inconclusive and vague.

[xcorps]

I heard a news report about 2 weeks ago that the Saud oil reserves are much lower than reported. I'll see if I can source it.

[Jom]

This is a shame because it'll probably divert funding away from developing green energy towards better methods of extracting the oil.

[xcorps]

It depends how who's paying for the development for the exploitation of the oil reserves and who's paying for the development of the renewables. In some cases, those are the same companies, but in some they are not. Some of the majors have sub corporations that exist just for RnD, some corporations that develop the renewables are backed by energy companies.
I know my own company (which participates in oilfield exploration and exploitation) spends a percent of its income on companies that do renewable RnD, but I don't know the extent.